of next week as well. we still need rain and there's more tuesday of next week. back to you, marla and jon. >> a lot of people know this, i know back in your day you were a basketball player, triple doubles. big dance time. basketball players from all over the country converging. teams start practicing at the hp pavilion ahead of tomorrow's slate of games. >> the fans equal a win for san jose's economy. monte francis live in san jose where you spoke to downtown businesses with more on the economic impact. good morning, monte. >> marla, good morning. in 2010, this tournament generated about $20 million for san jose's economy. expectations this time around are just as high. as you said, college basketball fans from across the country flying into san jose for the tournament. hotels, bars, restaurants in downtown san jose are hoping to recover some of the money they lost with nhl lockout this past

season. we're told right now many hotels in san jose are fully booked. when it comes to ncaa's impact on the local economy, there is a trickle down effect. the ceo of the san jose silicon valley chamber of commerce says when the hotels are booked, that translates to more revenue for restaurants, bars, and cafes. >> the expectations are always high. obviously the economic impact can vary. i think the numbers we heard from 2010 were about $20 million in economic impact. so whenever you can bring people from outside a region into your community, that's new money. >> the tournament games begin tomorrow. each game is expected to draw about 18,000 fans to hp pavilion. tickets are almost sold out. i checked on ticketmaster, there are still some available online. practice sessions start here in about one hour. those practice sessions are free and open to the public.

so if you're interested, come on down. live in san jose, monte francis, nbc bay area news. in other news now, two homes have burned down after a fast-moving fire on bethel island. one person injured and treated on scene. that person is expected to recover. the fire started in one home on taylor road and gradually spread to another nearby home. firefighters initially had a hard time getting to the flames just before 2:30 this morning because of a downed power line in the area. >> the chp issuing a silver alert for an 83-year-old man from danville. nicholas who goes by the nickname paul, last seen at 12:30. police say he has heart complications and a form of early difficultmentia. he's said to drive a 2006 gray toyota camera with license plate number you see on the screen there, 5thh 081. received his photo a few hours

ago. he's a white man with white hair and hazel eyes. stands 5'7" tall, weighs about 180 pounds. if you happen to have any information, you are asked to please call police. new details in the search for a missing san jose student. san jose state telling us this morning police have found 22-year-old gabrielle smith. he was reported missing yesterday morning and was last seen in henry cowell state park in santa cruz mountains. his family apparently found him in the town. before he disappeared yesterday, he was ticketed for illegal camping at that park. >> pleasanton preschool reopened after a temporary shutdown in the wake of a child abuse allegations. the san jose preschool has been closed for five days to retrain its teachers. just last week allegations a former teacher tied up a 2-year-old girl with tape when

that young girl refused to take a nap. the school is investigating the incident. a councilwoman wants to change the way we report child abuse. joan buchanan introducing giving staff adequate training. a second bill would give districts the authority in child abuse cases to immediately remove teachers from the classroom. overnight we learned a san jose police officer who shot and killed a suspect on monday night has been involved in a shooting before. the officer fired on the suspect after police say the suspect tried to rundown the officer. that same officer was involved in a shoot-out last november that ended a robbery and homicide rampage. the suspect in that shooting was hit but not killed. san jose has had two officer-involved shootings so far this year.

san jose must now disclose city officials private text messages, e-mails, or other electronic communication about city affairs if requested. the ruling made by a santa clara county judge last week is in response to an activist's request. that activist sued the city in 2009 over its refusal to disclose personal electronic communications. a city attorney says the decision could be problematic on both practical and privacy grounds. it is still unclear whether or not the city will appeal the judge's decision. a san francisco lawmaker introducing a reform bill hoping to create new regulations for the medical marijuana industry. the bill, authored by assemblyman would have a division that would fall under california alcoholic beverage control. it would establish statewide standards and fees for how

medical marijuana is grown, transported, sold, similar to how abc regulates state's bars and liquor stores. the state dropped a case again a thief who hit the oakland museum clearing the way for federal charges. a federal complaint was filed against this man, andre franklin on friday. police say franklin stole a gold rush era jewelry box from the open museum january 9th. it was worth more than $800,000. he's also expected of stealing gold nuggets and gold rush era pistol from the museum on november 12 but has yet to be charged. we can tell you there's a new plan for the lafayette hillside where thousands of crosses stand marking the lives lost in the wars both in iraq and afghanistan. jeev heaton, he's the man that started that memorial when the war started back in 2003. right now there are 4,000 crosses on display. but if there was more room,

there would be 6701 for each american killed in iraq and afghanistan. heaton says the crosses will be removed when the soldiers return. he tells nbc bay area he hopes the hillside will then be use to house veterans. >> ultimately we could try to get permission to put veteran housing at this location, which i think would be a fantastic use of the property. most people think it's kind of a crazy idea like tracie or stockton would be a better place to have veteran housing but why not here. >> the plan for veteran housing is a long way from becoming a reality. heaton must get to the owners of the land, convince them to sell it and the city to build housing. this will break your heart. a few months after he beat lymphoma, a 6-year-old boy is fighting for his life again against leukemia. he needs a bone marrow transplant to save his life. the leukemia is aggressive and chemotherapy will not cure it.

the family has been told there are not many people of hispanic descent in the current database. finding a match will be extremely challenging. eduardo's classmates and teachers are spreading the word about finding a bone marrow match. the family hopes their son's story will inspire others to answer the call. >> i'm really convinced we can find it and save him and do whatever we need to do to convince the people to do the test. >> a bone marrow drive for eduardo will happen at river glen school next friday march 29th. it will start at 2:30 in the afternoon and end at 7:00. the test is easy and does not involve any needles, just a swab of your cheek. still ahead at 11:00, an unbreakable bond. how the president is reassuring israel that the united states is 100% behind them.

a bay area company goes public this morning. we'll tell you how everything is going for model n next.

. we are still waiting for a joint press conference with president obama and the israeli prime minister. we will join that press conference as soon as the gets started. prident obama traveling to voice support for israel. the president arriving this morning in tel aviv greeted by israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and israel president perez. this marks mr. obama's very first trip to israel since becoming president. nbc's chuck todd is traveling with the president and he has this report. >> reporter: the president started his day in israel with the tour of the iron dome, which is the missile defense system that the u.s. government has actually funded a large part of. >> united states of america stands with the state of israel because it is within our fundamental national security

interest to stand with israel. it makes us both stronger. it makes us both more prosperous, and it makes the world a better place. >> reporter: the president's day is going to be heavy with meetings of israeli officials, the president, perez, prime minister netanyahu. the two of them will have a joint press conference where no doubt the lead topic news of the day in the region has to do with syria and chemical weapons. have they been used and who used them. israeli government officials confirming chemical weapons have been used. they are not sure who used them, the rebels or the assad regime. the united states government has confirmed any of that but we will hear from the president. he has talked about the use of chemical weapons as a red line when it comes to syria. president will overnight here. tomorrow heads to the west bank, next day to jordan and an overnight stay with king abdullah. reporting from jerusalem, this is chuck todd, nbc news. okay, chuck. thanks. we are waiting for that special

report in israel. other news now drones debated on capitol hill today as the senate committee discusses the potential for domestic use. various law enforcement agencies, including alameda county sheriff's office have floated the idea of using drones for community surveillance. the unmanned aircraft are already being used by businesses and agriculture. but critics have raised concerns about privacy. drones took the spotlight a few weeks ago during kentucky senator rand paul's 13-hour filibuster on the senate floor when he discussed the possibility of drone strikes against u.s. citizens. a big day for tech company making its debut in new york city. model n based in redwood city and makes revenue management software for life sciences and technology companies. the company's ceo in new york for that bell ringing. officially did the honors. that is on the new york stock exchange. shares popped right out of the

gate. the stock price is up by close to 35%, trades on the market today. the company's share started a dollar more than what was expected by the experts. american airlines defending its plan to give its outgoing ceo almost $20 million in severance pay. american airlines ceo is being replaced by the chief executive officer of us airways, as soon as the two companies complete their merger. a trustee overseeing american airlines bankruptcy objects to the payout. american says bankruptcy code does not apply because the payout will be made by the new airline after the merger pulls it out of bankruptcy. ebay is taking aim at amazon overhauling fees for sellers on the website. starting in april, ebay will let sellers list items for free. ebay will charge 4% to 10% items sold. the new fees are lower than

amazon, which charges between 6 and 15% per item. >> sticking with the tech world, yahoo! on top to buy a stake in one of the world's most popular online video websites, daily motion.com. "wall street journal" reporting it could be worth around $300 million. google adding a filter to its image search to make it easier to search for gifts. gifts are the looping images edited together to make up a short video clip. you can see that horse trotting. to help find those gifts, go to google image search page. click search tools button and switch any type to animated. go figure, it is the first official day of spring. we're getting a few raindrops on our head. christina. >> more on the way, marla and john. mostly cloudy conditions over san jose. getting a little break here. this is where most of the

residual moisture is headed. quite a bit on the way. our totals have been really impressive so far. we weren't expecting a whole lot of rain. santa rosa picked up half an inch. they needed it. that's good news. all this moisture boasts very well for our rainfall totals. doing well. more on the way tend of the seven-day forecast. san jose to gilroy, nice and dry, everywhere in between as well. san martine, morgan hill, you know the the area. as you can see right now, this is what's happening. we still have the warm side of the system. all these spotty clouds behind here, an indication of a very cold air mass that's going to push in as we head through the night. the last band of moisture through the bay area. let's time that out. stop the clock on future cast at 2:00 p.m. that front draped acroissant i don't care, san mateo, mostly drive at that point. in san jose moves through 2:00 and 5:00, right in time for that evening commute. you want to keep that in mind. we'll have live updates at 5:00 and 6:00, chief meteorologist

jeff ranieri. stop that clock tomorrow morning, clear, looking good. you might get caught under a stray shower. wear a jacket all day long, 50s, 60s, tomorrow right back up to the upper 60s. the good news is we'll get a nice weekend. tropical storm returning to the 70s and more rain on the way. so that position does pretty well when it comes to what we're expecting for the rest of the month and next month looking good. more rain, guys. boy do we need it. back to you. >> joe montana, joe cool adding to his resume. why he has arnold schwarzenegger to thank for his latest accolade. >> a little competition. the plans for a high-end shopping center in the south bay and what people are saying about it.

good. shopping center in the south bay

the city of mountain view has a new development plan in the works so big it could rival santa no row in san jose. a new shopping and entertainment area on the corner of san antonio. the six-screen movie theater, hotel, shops, and restaurants. some say the development is a good idea. some community groups say the project is moving too quickly. >> i have a major concern, which i said again and again, is traffic. this is very likely to congest everything. it really has not been planned for. >> residents are pushing for bike lanes, safe pedestrian crossings and traffic

mitigation. even without a plan, negotiations are under way. phase one of the project with housing and retail is almost complete. construction on phase two won't begin for several more months. >> just in case you hadn't realized it, we mentioned it earlier in the newscast. march madness officially here. that includes games at the shark tank that start tomorrow. that's where you catch cal bears taking on unlv. last night st. mary's getting off to a good start in the ncaa tournament, wing and advancing to 64. st. mary's beats up on middle tennessee, 67-54. the gales in action. still alive. take on memphis tomorrow. >> i got no words to describe it. it's awesome. no comparison. this the best i ever had. >> the celebration continues in the dominican republic as a new world champion was crowned at at&t park. the dominican republic was perfect through the entire world

baseball classic. topping off the journey with an emotional 3-0 win over puerto rico to claim the title. the team has a few distinct san francisco ties with giants reliever santiago casilla. former out field eer moise alou giants home opener friday april 5th. again, the cardinals. >> huge win. he said bigger than the world series. >> i know. all about hometown pride. when we come back, joe cool is entering the hall of fame again. >> we'll explain that coming up.

sacramento is rolling out the red carpet tonight to honor some very special people who have made their mark on california's history. among those being honored is nfl legend number 16, joe montana. >> he knows about all of this.

montana one of the selected few being introduced by governor jerry brown into that california hall of fame. others include actor warren beatty, the founding brothers. an interesting note, not created until 2006 by then governor arnold schwarzenegger and maria shriver. joe cool goes in with warren beatty and warner brothers. >> i have to mention i met him before. >> cool. >> super cool. >> he was probably happy to meet you. i'm nominating you. >> get ready to stay with nbc for the special report out of israel, president obama and prime minister benjamin netanyahu. thanks for being with us. join us at 5:00, 6:00, and 11:00. have a great day, everybody.

report. here's brian williams. >> good day from new york and the middle east in just a moment. as you may know president obama has started his first trip to israel as president. in jerusalem, the president and benjamin netanyahu are going to come before cameras and reporters. we expect joint statements. one first from netanyahu of israel and then president obama and then very limited questioning from the assembled press core there. our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is covering this. effective with netanyahu saying at the airports thank you for standing with israel. the business of this trip may have been accomplished meaning getting there was part of the

issue. >> reporter: it certainly was. the president received a lot of criticism for waiting until his second term to come to israel. so much has changed since the president's first visit to the middle east when he went to cairo, addressed the arab world and talked about the need for democratic change. now in his second term he's coming to israel. it is surrounded by hostile nations and surrounded by chaos. a country that's walling itself off. to have the president here expressing support for the prime minister, for the state of israel right now is something israel feels is very important and a bit long time coming. >> in fact, one of the first stops the president made before leaving the airport, before leaving the tarmac was to inspect the iron dome missile defense system. both leaders have entered the room. let's listen in. >> mr. president, it's a great

pleasure for me to host you here in jerusalem. you have graciously hosted me many times here in washington so i'm pleased to have this opportunity to reciprocate. i hope that the good will and warmth of the people of israel has already made you feel at home. >> very much so. >> we had an opportunity to begin discussing the wide range of issues that are critical to both our countries. and foremost among these is iran's relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons. mr. president, you have made it clear that you are determined to prevent iran from developing puck weapons. i appreciate for forthright position on this point. you have also noted that you have acted to through strong